Book Review: The Download by R.E. Carr

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Title: The Download

Author: R.E. Carr

Release date: May 9th, 2017

R.E. Carr and myself have followed each other on Twitter for some time, and when I recently tweeted that if people were looking for reviews, to message me, we got in touch. After giving me some synopsis’ of releases, I decided on ‘The Download.’

I really do enjoy reading a full on science-fiction story from time to time and this ticked all of those boxes.

What I liked: Don’t be shocked with the page count (559) Carr wastes no time diving into the action. We are introduced to two roommates, one of whom is experimenting with computer software. When all goes black, our main character Jenny wakes up to a whole new world.

From there, Carr takes us on a spell binding ride. We get extraterrestrial worlds and species, great inter-personal relationships, all the while watching the story arc of Jenny progress. This reminded me at times of ‘Stargate’ or ‘The Fifth Element,’ or more recently Joseph Sale’s ‘Gods of the Black Gates.’

The epilogue was great, and I’m not sure if more are planned in this world/with these characters, but I sure hope so.

What I didn’t like: The length may be a turn off for some, but I never felt as though the book dipped or dived.

As for anything else, with a book this large and a cast to match, I did find myself struggling in the first 1/4 to keep a firm grasp on who was who. I don’t make notes when doing a long read (I do on short story collections/anthologies) but that might have been a way to keep track of the characters looking back at the book.

Why you should buy it: If you’ve followed any of my reviews, you know I’m a fan of reading everyone, so if you’re looking for an under the radar science fiction book that doesn’t fall into the classic tropes over and over again, look no further. Carr writes with ease and the book progressed really nicely for me!

4/5